Western Front - 2000 November 17

              FRIDAY, November 17, 2000
The Western Front Western Washington University Volume 114 Issue 14 Bellingham, Washington
County suspends further
pipeline construction
Utilities committee, FERC address Williams
pipeline issue, news standards to come in May
By Heather Baker
THE WESTERN FRONT
The Whatcom County Utility
and Planning Advisory
Committee joined forces with
the Federal Energy Regulation
Commission (FERC) this week
in order to pursue the Williams
pipeline issue.
At Tuesday's Whatcom
County Council meeting, the
council imposed a moratorium
on any new fuel transmission
pipelines until May 30, so the
council could write new
pipeline standards.
The Williams Pipeline
extends from the Mexican bor­der
to the end of Sumas. The
pipeline was built in the late
'50s, but the company is talk­ing
about extending the
pipeline and creating offshoots.
The Utility and Planning
Advisory Committee was
established in the early 80s to
deal with questions about a
high electrical transmission
line going through town.
The committee reconvened
last year in response to the
Sumas Energy 2 plan and now
deals with pipeline issues as
well.
The Williams Pipeline rup­tured
in Feb., 1997. Committee
member Shirley Nielsen said it
is not the pipeline the commit­tee
objects to, but the way the
pipeline company is trying to
expand it without proper per­mits.
Nielsen also is worried the
site could expand into areas it
should not, such as mined rock
quarries, residential areas and
flood zones. The council has
given that duty to the advisory
committee.
Michael Kaufman, newly
elected committee chair, said
the only way to proceed on this
issue is to work with FERC.
Lynden Mayor Daryl
Brennick said once FERC
approves the pipeline, what to
do with it is out of the county's
hands.
While working with FERC,
the committee discussed three
different roles they can play:
intervener, commentator or
helper.
Brennick said being an inter­vener
is costly and being a com­mentator
will have no effect on
a project, but being a helper will
give the county an advantage to _.\-..
see what they want done.
Most committee members
agreed helping FERC find a
site. for. any _new~pipeline-con=—
struction would serve residents
better than developing pipeline
safety regulations, which is not
the committee's role in the first
place.
FERC' approves pipeline con­struction,
but leaves safety reg­ulations
up to the Department
See CONCERNED, Page 5
Living with AIDS' quilt
Daniel J. Peters/ The Western Front
Whitney Cruz puts the finishing touches on her section of
the "living with AIDS" quilt. See story, page 3.
American Indian schools in need
By C. Nicki Krom
THE WESTERN FRONT
"The biggest problem Native
American children have is
anger," Vivian Delgado said in a
Tuesday lecture at Western.
"They feel hopeless, and instead
of helping on a personal level we
offer educational terminology."
Cultural barriers between
teachers and American Indian
students within public schools
cause frustration and feelings of
isolation, Delgado said.
Delgado's lecture was titled
"The Two Worlds of Native
American Education."
Sally Elder, a Bellingham res­ident
who teaches at Timberidge
Alternative High School, spoke
about her* experiences while
working for over two years on
the Wind River Reservation in
Wyoming.
"In the two years I spent on
the reservation, three students
were killed in alcohol-related
accidents, and.one 12-year-old
successfully hung himself,"
Elder said.
"We've come to a point were
the only way to repair damage is
to find a way in which Native
Americans can retain their cul­ture
and still receive the
Angela D. Smith/ The Western Front
Vivian Delgado speaks during a Tuesday lecture, "The
Two Worlds of Native American Education."
Western education necessary in
order to be successful in today's
society," Elder said. "Their edu­cation
needs to be both and not
either/or."
Delgado focused on four
aspects of the American Indian
community that illustrate the
broad effects of race, culture,
federal recognition and educa­tion
in the community.
"Native American education
cannot be narrowly defined,"
Delgado said. ' I t is important to
realize that Native American
people cannot be treated generi-cally.
There are over 500 sepa­rate
tribes with separate cultur­al
identities."
Delagdo talked about the
impact of inherited backgrounds
as they move from a singular
tribe to intertribal and finally
interracial cultures.
Speaking about culture,
Delgado addressed the experi­ences
of American Indians in
See AMERICAN, Page 5
Students dig
into recycle
week, trash
By Hollie Brown
THE WESTERN FRONT
The sight of students digging
in garbages around campus last
week may have had some peo­ple
scratching their heads.
Not to worry — the excava­tion
of these refuse vestiges was
not the loss of sanity by stu­dents
as the quarter is more
than half over.
Instead, it was an act of love
for the environment.
Western Environmental
Watch, an AS club, collected 400
used paper cups from campus
garbages in preparation for
Recycle Week this week. They
strung the cups together on
three long strings and hung
them across buildings in Red
Square . Tuesday and
Wednesday. A table with free
mugs and coffee was set up to
complement the cups.
"We got some pretty weird
looks shot at us for a while,"
club member Cassandra Howe
said.
The number of paper cups club
See MORE, Page 4
Smokeout
fires up
students to
kick habit
By Darren Zaccaria
THE WESTERN FRONT
"There are no positive rea­sons
to smoke," Western stu­dent
David Gruner said. "But
the nicotine can really control
you; it drives you to want to
have a cigarette."
In an effort to get smokers to
quit their habit, the American
Cancer Society sponsors The
Great American Smokeout
every third Thursday of each
November.
"The purpose of the
Smokeout is to get smokers to
agree to quit smoking for 24
hours," Dry s Information
Center assistant coordinator
Lindsey Forrey said.
"The 24-hour period is a
starting point for those who
want to quit permanently,"
Forrey said.
"I work for The Drug
Information Center, so when
jwe started to do the promo­tions
for the smpkeoutf it got
me thinking about quitting
myself," Western student
Jason Suter said. 'It's been a
month since I quit, but those
cravings are still there."
The Drug Information
Center decided to promote the
Smokeout by offering free pizza
to those who are trying to quit
and to; the friends who support
them. •
The event took place 6 p.m.
on Tuesday at the Viking
Union. Boxes of pizza, includ­ing
cheese and pepperoni from
Marriott and the Pizza
Pipeline, were laid out on
tables in the VU and soon were
See STUDENTS, Page 4
IN THIS ISSUE
Gettin' Jiggy
With It
The time has come for
Western's dance team to
dazzle and delight basket­ball
crowds.
See story, Page 9.
Angels in
America
Ex-drag
queens, racial
tensions and
AIDs are
highlighted
in 'Angels in
America/
playing in
the PAC until Dec. 2.
See story, Page 7.
For news tips, call (360) 650-3162 or e-mail The Western Front at wfront@cc.wwu.edu http^/westernfront. wwu.edu